In a move that could help the tourism industry in April, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is proposing to change the trout season opener to the first Saturday in April, a full month earlier than it has traditionally started.
That proposed rule change will be up for a vote statewide at the spring fish and game hearings in every county and during the 48-hour online voting window, which starts at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 14.
If approved, there’s a good chance the change will take effect in 2026, giving anglers anywhere from 23 to 30 extra days to harvest trout on inland streams, springs and spring ponds that are classified trout water.
The opener for non-trout waters, put-and-take inland lakes and ponds would remain the first Saturday in May.
According to the spring hearing questionnaire, biologists say allowing for an earlier harvest season would provide additional fishing opportunities when fishing conditions are good for stream side fishing, without posing risks to trout resources.
“Nearby states such as Minnesota have a mid-April harvest opener, and Iowa has a year-round harvest season,” the agency stated. “This proposal may improve tourism in local communities with trout streams by providing opportunities for anglers (who) choose to harvest fish to utilize local areas rather than having to travel to a neighboring state for this early harvest opportunity.”
The department said recent creel, angler, and fish population surveys show trout harvest levels are generally low, while fish population monitoring has shown stable to increasing trout populations.
“From June through September, some trout resources, particularly smaller streams, are not accessible due to riparian vegetation growth,” they state. “Opening the season in early April will add additional days in which anglers can fish these otherwise inaccessible waters and allow anglers to fish for other species such as white suckers.”
Biologists also said an earlier harvest opener may help reduce the abundance of trout in high-density streams when fishing conditions are most optimal.
“Some streams in Wisconsin have a very high abundance of trout. High population abundance may affect growth and size structure,” they said, noting that harvest in those streams could lead to a high-quality fishery.
Other fishing-related rule change proposals on the 2025 spring hearing questionnaire include several panfish bag limit changes that impact more than 60 lakes statewide.
One of them impacts the popular Kentuck Lake in Vilas and Forest counties, where the DNR is proposing a daily bag limit of 25 panfish in aggregate but no more than five perch.
Biologists said they want to protect yellow perch because they are a vital food source for walleye yet give anglers a chance to harvest 25 black crappies daily, a species that “has been correlated to decrease juvenile walleye abundance and thought to be a variable to cause walleye population crashes.”
The daily bag limit for crappies on Kentuck Lake has been 10 the past decade as part of a department experiment aimed at decreasing harvest and improving the panfish size structure.
At least half of this year’s panfish rule changes are designed to address the 10-year experiment because the regulations will sunset in March of 2026.
Also in Vilas County, the DNR is proposing to apply a 25 panfish bag limit with no more than five bluegills on Deerskin, Partridge, High, Fishtrap and Rush lakes.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here